Full Moon Rising
Riley Jenson, Guardian, Book 1
By Keri Arthur

Werewolf novels and vampire novels are both hugely popular in the urban fantasy genre - and Keri Arthur has combined the two in her heroine, Riley Jenson, a hybrid of a werewolf and a vampire. Riley's werewolf side seems mostly to the fore - she changes into a wolf, she doesn't need to drink blood, can go out in the daytime, but does have a few vampire tricks up her sleeve such as the ability to sense things in a psychic way and to resist glamour.

Riley's twin brother Rhoan works for Melbourne's Directorate of Other Races as a Guardian - this means he is sent to dispose of any of the supernatural race that commit crimes (and the disposal is usually permanent). However when Rhoan goes missing Riley begins to worry, especially as ten other Guardians have gone missing and been found dead recently. Riley tries to persuade Rhoan's boss Jack to hunt for him, but Jack wants Riley to become a Guardian and seems to be using Rhoan's disappearance as a lever to persuade her to join. Just to add to the complication, Riley discovers a naked vampire camped outside her front door - Quinn, the vampire, can't remember what happened to him but knows he wants to talk to Rhoan and he gets dragged into the plot when it becomes clear he has a significant interest in what's been happening.

What follows is the hunt for Rhoan alongside the discovery of a plot to clone humans and supernatural creatures. Riley finds herself working with Quinn, who turns out to be a billionaire who's over a thousand years old, with Rhoan and his lover and with the mysterious Jack, boss of the Guardians. Her time is also spent with her two lovers, Talon and Misha, both werewolves.

I love that this series is set in Melbourne and not the usual America. Strong, smart and capable, Riley will remind many of Anita Blake, Laurell K. Hamilton's kick-ass vampire hunter. Fans of Anita Blake and Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse vampire series will be rewarded. I bought books 1 and 2 on a fly-by visit to the Sydney Dymocks store and will be ordering the rest of the books as soon as possible for some holiday reading.